16th June 2021 Mussselburgh Athletic 1 Arniston Rangers 0

 

Another beautiful sunny day today and after watching the first half of the Turkey v Wales match in the Euros on television I decided to go out and watch a live game in the sunshine. The closest fixture was a pre-season friendly at Musselburgh so I wandered down to Haymarket to get a 26 bus to the ground. Normally bus journeys are quiet but three young gilrs got on at St Andrew Square. They were shouting and screaming in addition to slurping some vile looking drinks which were apparently Japanese. They then started dancing around at the front of the top deck at which point the driver came upstairs and told them to sit down and shut up or they would have to leave the bus. I would have thrown them off then but at last they were quiet for the rest of the journey. I walked the short distance from the Ship Inn to the round arriving around 19.05 for a 19.30 kickoff. At the entrance had to give contact details for Covid tracing purposes and also had my temperature checked before entry. It was lucky my temperature was not not checked when I was on the bus as I was boiling with rage at the antics of these girls. Admission was by a donation and I placed a £5 note in the donation bag. I think this was the first time I had used cash to pay for anything for about three months. 

Musselburgh and Arniston were both junior sides but moved to the senior leagues as the Scottish pyramid structure was established. Both are in the East of Scotland League now, Musselburgh in the Premier Division (level 6) and Arniston in the Conference (level 7). Musselburgh have made two major signings for the current campaign. Eperienced goalkeeper Ryan Adamson has been brought in after his contract with Bo'ness ended. He has played for a number of clubs including Edinburgh City and Cowdenbeath in the SPFL. Midfilder/defender Ben Cameron has also been signed, on loan, from Clydebank. He is studying at univrsity in Edinburgh and signing for Musselburgh will allow the former Scottish Schoolboys captain to continue his football career. The Arniston side was announced quickly and I only caught a few names. James McQueen in goals and forwards Fabio Neto and Gordon Ramsay. Ramsay is not the chef of the same name who claimed to have played for Glasgow Rangers. 

Just before kickoff Alex arrived and we took out position on the grassy terrace opposite the covered enclosure. The first chance of the match fell to Arniston. A run by Neto forced a corner on the right. The kick was fired in the penalty area where the unmarked Arniston centre-half connected with a header about twelve yards out. His attempt crashed of the cross-bar before being cleared by the home defence. Musselburgh then took control and their first opportunity came along when full-back Jordan Orru broke free on the left. He cut in towards the penalty area and shot across the keeper beyongd the far post. Dean Ballantyne then received a head knock after a collision with Arniston keeper McQueen on the edge of the penalty area. Thankfully he recovered after a short spell of treatment on the pitch. Midfielder Jackie Myles, not renowned as a goal scorer had a couple of attempts from the edge of the penalty area but failed to trouble keeper McQueen.Liam Gregory than had a chance just before half-time. After a move down the right Matty King fed him a pass on the left hand side of the penalty area. With the goal at his mercy the midfielder shot past the post from eighteen yards. Just before halftime Alex went for a walk round the ground to count the crowd. I guessed around 110 and his count came out at 123. He returned with Tony and Andy two fellow groundhoppers. Tony follows Manchester City (and Hearts) while Andy supports Woking. Both had travelled North for the game and stood alongside us for the second half.

The second half started with Musselburgh bringing off Lloyd Fiddler for substitute Bradley Whyte. Arniston not only brought on substitutes but also changed their strips. Having started the game in a chocolatey brown strip the switched to their normal maroon at halftime. The deadlock was broken in fifty-six minutes. A pass from the right found Ballantyne unmarked about fifteen yards from goal on the left of the penalty spot. He took a touch then hit would looked like a soft shot towards the goal. It seemed an easy save for McQueen but he only diverted the ball towards the net. The keeper recovered to grab the ball back but it had clearly crossed the goal line and the referee had no hesitation in awarding the goal. Musselburgh had most of the game now but Arniston were dangerous on he break. On one occasion the referee blew his whistle for what I thought was an incorrect offside decision against Arniston. The referee then called over Musselburgh substitute Declan O'Kane and the Arniston number eleven before booking both for some off the ball incident I had missed as I was following play. The game then restarted with a drop ball to Musselburgh which I thought was a bit unfair given Arniston had an advantage when play was stopped. Other than a header passed the post by centre-back Liam Reid there were no further goals or clearcut chances before the referee blew the final whistle.

I short walk from the ground took me to Musselburgh High Street and a bus came along in minutes. A quiet journey back into town meant I was home just after 22.00 after a good night out.

Teams

Musselburgh Athletic: Adamson, Cameron, Orru, Myles, McManus, Reid, Wynne, Fiddler, Ballantyne, King, Gregory

Subs: Whyte, O'Kane, Gregory.

Arniston Rangers: McQueen,?, ?. ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, Neto, Ramsay.

Subs: ?